At home afloat

Our aquatic adventures began at a London boat show in 1975.

Retirement comes especially early to members of the Armed Forces, and with that time on the horizon, my husband and I were fortunate to find a challenging new way of life. We discovered it in plenty of time to give it a good try before com- mitting on a long-term basis.

Our new love was boating, and we have never looked back.

Our aquatic adventures began with a visit to the fabulous London Boat Show at Earlscourt in 1975. There we collected the usual shopping bag full of brochures and a wealth of boating ideas. We learned of a flotilla sailing holiday in the Greek Islands, which sounded most appealing. To join their flotilla, at least one crew member had to have a helmsman’s certificate. So we signed up for a dinghy sailing course, which was given on a huge, flooded gravel pit in very cold weather in March, in England.

The cruise took place the following July, when we flew from London to Athens and were taken by bus to Epidavros, where we were assigned to a 25-foot sailboat, of which there were 13 in the fleet. There were 12 guest boats and one other, which carried a crew consisting of a captain, who was in overall charge, and a mechanic, who thor- oughly checked one boat a day and took care of any problems. The third crew member was Rosie, the hostess, who rowed around to every boat at the end of the day and gave us hints on where to eat or get water. Every evening, the captain held a meeting with the other captains, one from each boat. He outlined the course for the following day, any hazards to watch out for and any special instructions for mooring at the next destination. Most days finished with dinner at a local taverna with plenty of retsina and ouzo.

It was a memorable holiday and led to us buy- ing a 28-foot Grampian sailboat, which we named Chinook, upon our return to Canada the following year. We sailed mostly on Lake On- tario until my husband was posted to New Brunswick in 1979. Then we sailed across Lake Ontario, took the boat down the Oswego and Erie canals, down the Hudson River to New York, up Long Island Sound, the Cape Cod Canal, up the east coast to New Brunswick, through the Re- versing Falls and on up the St. John River to Fredericton. We enjoyed the boating life so much that we decided to buy a slightly larger boat for our retirement, which began in 1986.

We chose an Albin 36-foot trawler, which has a displacement hull and does not go very fast, but is very comfortable and roomy. Once again we did the Lake Ontario/ Erie Canal/Hudson River route to New York. Little did we suspect, taking photos of the Twin Towers as we passed by, what disaster lay a few years ahead for those spectacular structures.

Our journey continued south from New York via the Intracoastal Waterway to Florida. A popular departure point for small craft making the journey across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas is Lake Worth, roughly half way between Cape Canaveral and Fort Lauderdale. Boaters anchor in the lake to wait for the best possible wind and weather conditions for the crossing, which can take five or six hours out of sight of land. Crossing from Lake Worth Inlet to Freeport is the shortest route, about 55 miles, to the Bahamas.

We went island hopping when we first arrived there, but once we found Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos, we put the anchor down and stayed, re- turning every winter for seven years until 1993, when health problems forced us ashore. The boat was stored over the summers at Titusville, Florida, just north of Cape Canaveral. While we were laying up the boat in the spring and fitting out in the fall, we were able to watch several launches from the Space Centre.

There are many familiar sayings about boating. “A yacht is a hole in the water that you pour money in,” or, “If you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it.” Such sayings only become old and familiar because there is a certain element of truth in them. Another familiar boating syndrome is “two foot-itis,” which refers to boat owners to want a boat just a bit bigger than the one they have. Boats are indeed expensive, and become more so with every improvement in electronics or boating accessories. However, the return on investment is measured in pure pleasure and pride of ownership.

Of course, boating is not all pleasure. There is always maintenance, both mechanical, to keep the engine going dependably, and the very demanding work of keeping fibreglass gleaming, or varnishing teak to keep the brightwork shipshape.

It would be unfair to would-be boaters not to speak of training. So far I have only mentioned the day sailing course, taken in small dinghies to prepare for the sailboat cruise. Before setting out on a major trip like the Intracoastal Waterway or crossing the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas, it is essential to undergo some sort of training. It’s not anything like using a road map and following the signs along the way.

The Canadian Power and Sail Squadron is a non-profit organization which for more than 70 years has provided recreational boaters with instruction and advice to improve their boating knowledge, safety, vessel handling and navigational skills. Courses include marine radio opera- tion, astral navigation, piloting, navigating with GPS, electronic navigating, radar for pleasure craft, celestial navigation, weather, extended cruising, marine maintenance and more. Since September 2009, all operators of a motorized pleasure craft have to show proof of competence in the form of a CPS Pleasure Craft Operator Card (PCOC). Students successfully completing the CPS boating courses or the PCOC exam receive a one-year complimentary membership in the Canadian Power and Sail Squadron. More in- formation about the CPS and the PCOC exam can be obtained at 1-888-277-2628.

When failing health ended our cruising days in 1993, we set off on the long trip home, reversing our route up the Intracoastal, which seemed very long, especially with the delays caused by spring flooding. Once we had crossed Lake Ontario, we traveled to Trenton and made our way up the Trent-Severn Waterway all the way to Lagoon City, where we said goodbye to our beloved boat, the MV Barbara.

We now spend our winters on the west coast of Florida, in our “land yacht” — a fifth-wheel RV. The boat we have now is a G3 tunnel boat, which is perfect for fishing in the shallow waters of the Crystal River area and the inshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Our latest concern is the BP oil spill disaster, and how it will affect our boating playground.

This article was originally published in the Ramara Chronicle in July 2010.